1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electronic component feeding device which is adaptable to electronic components of various sizes, and an electronic component mounting apparatus provided with such an electronic component feeding device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in the electronic component feeding device of this type provided in the electronic component mounting apparatus, for adapting the device to many types of tapes, there is proposed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-269686 a technology of changing a tape feeding pitch by using an adjusting member to change a stroke of a linking member in a linking system which intermittently rotates a sprocket member for feeding a tape by pitches, and changing spacing between the electronic components in a tape feeding direction and width of an opening for picking provided in a cover member for preventing a vacant tape in front of a pickup position from jumping after the component is picked up.
However, it is troublesome but necessary to change the width of the opening for picking provided in the cover member and the spacing between the electronic components in the tape feeding direction. When the width of the opening for picking is not changed, the opening is formed in a size corresponding to a larger electronic component. Therefore, when small electronic components are used, the storage tape jumps near a center of the opening in the tape feeding direction, affecting a behavior of the electronic component in the storage tape.